Youth
by Writing-and-Music
Summary: "Adopting one child won't change the world; but for that one child, the world will change." – Unknown Hiroki and Nowaki have agreed to adopt their first child. A little girl, who seems to be a combination of the two of them despite her not really being their biological child. Their life changes for the better, to the point they inspire another special couple to adopt as well.
1. Chapter 1

**Junjou Egoist**

 **Youth**

 **Chapter One**

Hiroki looked over his shoulder and at his lover who was sitting silently at the dinner table, waiting for Hiroki to set the table with the food he had just prepared. Nowaki had been acting strangely for the past couple days, and only seemed to get more and more out of it as the days passed by. If he didn't hurry and talk to him about whatever was bothering him, Hiroki worried that it would interrupt his work.

"Nowaki, are you okay?" Hiroki asked as he walked over towards him, setting a plate and glass of water in front of him. "You've been acting kind of spacey ever since you got home."

"I've been wanting to talk to you about something, but I'm not sure how to approach you about the subject, and I'm not sure on how you'll react," Nowaki replied slowly, chewing on his bottom lip as he raised his eyes to meet Hiroki's.

"Just tell me because you're only worrying me more when you don't talk to me," Hiroki said as he sat down. "Besides, it isn't like you're planning on telling me something like you're thinking about breaking up or anything." Hiroki paused, picking up his chopsticks, hesitating to start eating. "Right?"

"Of course not, Hiro-san," Nowaki exclaimed quickly, his arm shooting out so he could place a reassuring hand on top of Hiroki's. "Quite the opposite actually," he muttered quietly. "I am thinking about something that will bring us closer together actually. I've been doing some research, and I've discovered that the Kusama Orphanage allows homosexual couples to adopt. I was just thinking that maybe… we could adopt."

Hiroki blinked, licking his lips nervously as he lowered his chopsticks back onto the table. To be honest, he had thought about adoption many times himself because he knows how much Nowaki wants kids of his own, and since Hiroki isn't a woman, he can't give Nowaki that wish of his. However, this way, he could. But there are a few things that they have to really put into consideration before making the decision to adopt.

"Would we have the time to care for the kid?" Hiroki asked, looking up at Nowaki seriously. "Due to your hectic schedule, especially after you've been promoted to an actual doctor instead of just a trainee, do you think we'll be able to be home to take care of it?"

"I've already thought about all of that," Nowaki said quickly. "While we're both working, there is school and daycare after school if neither of us are home. Also, during the summer, you're off work so you can be able to stay home with them then."

Hiroki nodded slowly, picking up his chopsticks once again to take a quick bite of his food. "We've got financial stability now too," he muttered quietly, biting the inside of his cheek in thought for a few moments of thought. "Okay," he said finally. "We can look more into it. We both have the day off tomorrow so we can go down to the orphanage tomorrow and talk to them about it if you'd like."

Nowaki's eyes widened in shock for a few moments before an overjoyed smile started to slowly spread across his lips. "Thank you so much, Hiro-san," he said, his voice sounding breathy. "I was worried about your response, but to be honest I never really imagined that you would agree so easily."

"You've always wanted a kid, haven't you?" Hiroki asked quietly. "I've always felt kind of bad that I'm not physically able to give you a child, so this is the second best thing isn't it? Besides, you must feel bad for the kids in the orphanage since you know exactly how they feel, right? If we do this… at least the kid will have a second chance for a family."

Hiroki could feel his cheeks heating up into a blush at his mini speech, and he tried not to scream at Nowaki when his lover embraced him tightly, nuzzling his face into his neck as he mumbled words of gratitude like a mantra. Hiroki hesitantly raised his arms to wrap them around Nowaki, happy that he could make Nowaki this happy and give him one of his largest wishes this way.

 **-Page Break-**

The next day, as Hiroki promised, he and Nowaki traveled to the Kusama Orphanage. Nowaki had already explained to Hiroki that the process of adoption would go by much more smoothly since he was an orphan there and the caretakers all already knew him. All he and Hiroki would have to do would choose a child that they want to adopt, talk to the child so they know if they're comfortable with being adopted by two men, and the orphanage would take care of all the paperwork that would legalize the adoption.

When they arrived, a caretaker rushed up to them once she spotted Nowaki. "I was wondering when you two would drop by here to adopt," she said kindly with a sweet smile on her lips. She seemed to be aged with wrinkles beginning to form around her eyes and mouth. "If you both would follow me inside you can take a look at the children."

"Thank you, Kaya-chan," Nowaki said politely, following her inside, Hiroki trailing behind. "Hiro-san and I talked, and we would like to adopt a girl. Preferably one that is old enough to start school this year because we both don't have the time to take care of a baby due to our jobs."

Kaya's eyes sparkled happily and she pointed up the stairs. "There is actually one girl that has just turned five this month and she is able to start school now. She's been with us all her life, and she was brought here in a quite similar fashion as you Nowaki. We have no idea who her biological parents are, but she's very sweet and is always happy to meet new people. You could come up and meet her if you'd like."

Hiroki and Nowaki nodded, following Kaya up the old stairs and towards the female dorms. "Her name is Emiko, just so you two know," Kaya informed them before opening the door that Emiko shared with three other little girls. "Emiko? There are two men here who would like to meet you."

A small girl's head snapped up to where she had her nose buried in a book and jumped off of the top bunk bed where she was sitting, landing gracefully. She had her long black hair tied up into a messy bun and her russet eyes glinted in curiosity. Hiroki noted that she did kind of look like both him and Nowaki put into one, and he suddenly really wanted to take her home and welcome her into his and Nowaki's little family.

"Wow," she said in a small voice, looking up at the both of them. "I've never had two men want to meet me before. Would you both be like… my two daddies?" she asked with a tilt of her head and a cute confused pout.

Nowaki chuckled lightly as he crouched down to Emiko's level, giving her a bright smile. "That's right," he said with a nod. "Hiro-san and I have been looking into adoption for a while, but before we start to get to know you a bit more, we want to make sure you'd be comfortable with having two daddies."

Emiko fell silent for a moment, looking closely at both Hiroki and Nowaki before coming to her decision with a nod. "Yeah," she said eagerly. "Having two daddies would be really cool!"

Nowaki laughed again and he reached up to pat Emiko's head gently before straightening back up. "Well then, would you like to take a little walk with us to get to know us better?" he asked. Once again, the little girl nodded excitedly and shot passed both of them to start down the stairs so they could go outside to talk.

After they talked for about an hour, they all went inside to head to the main office to tell the director that they would like to take Emiko home with them. They both filled out some paperwork, more Hiroki than anyone else since Nowaki had lived in the orphanage until he turned eighteen. They weren't able to take Emiko home the first day since the orphanage would have to send in the paperwork to make sure everything was approved, but the director assured them that he would call as soon as they got the approval and in the mean time they could both get everything set up.

Hiroki and Nowaki decided to get Emiko's bedroom set up as soon as possible and went out to pick out some furniture and a few toys. On the first or second day of her arrival they would take Emiko out to pick out her own clothes, bedsheets, and some more toys.

For her bed, they settled with a twin sized platform bed that Nowaki said he could take home and build himself without any problems. He had always been good with his hands; in more ways than one, of course. They also picked out a coffee colored nightstand to match the wooden frame color of the bed, a toy box and toys, as well as a few necessities.

On the day they both had everything set up, they got the phone call that they had been approved for adoption and they could come down and pick up Emiko whenever they were ready. Nowaki, out of sheer happiness and excitement, dropped the phone just so he could tightly embrace Hiroki in near tears.

The next day, they went to the orphanage to pick up their new daughter. When they entered the main office, she was sitting in a chair pressed against the wall with her short legs swinging and a small suitcase next to the chair. In her arms, she was cradling a dirty looking horse stuffed animal that her biological parents had left with her when they dropped her off. When she raised her eyes and spotted them, she squealed in excitement before racing up to them and hugging them both tightly. "Thank you both so much for taking me in," she whispered, her voice choked up.

Hiroki's heart melted, and as he and Nowaki leaned down to hug her back, he thought that this was the best thing he and Nowaki had ever done. As they walked outside, Nowaki rolling the suitcase for Emiko, Hiroki remembered that they had to stop by the store for bedsheets and clothes for her. Emiko looked up at Hiroki, her eyes wide. "I get to pick out my own bedsheets and clothes?" she asked in wonder.

"Of course," Hiroki replied. "And toys and whatever else you want right now that we can afford."

"Books?" Emiko asked with a serious expression. "I'm sick of reading the same books over and over again. Could I pick out some of my own books today too?"

"Yeah," Hiroki said with a smile, amazed that a child her age was so interested in reading. "I pretty much have my own library at home, so you can look through a few of those to try out depending on your reading level. I think I have some that you could understand."

"Seriously? Wow! Thank you so much, Papa," she said happily, a bright smile spreading across her face. Hiroki smiled, surprised that Emiko was already calling him papa. Emiko suddenly turned to look at Nowaki, reaching up to tug on his shirt sleeve to catch his attention. "Can I call you daddy? That way I don't get you both confused."

"Yeah," Nowaki said, nodding his head instantly. Hiroki is pretty sure he can catch the slight shine of brimming tears in Nowaki's big, blue eyes. "That sounds really good, Emiko-chan."

"Okay," Emiko said and reached up with both arms so she could hold both of their hands as they started to cross the street where they were going to let her pick out her own bedsheets, clothes, and books.

 **First chapter is kind of shitty, but I promise it'll get better as it unfolds. This is just me wanting to get Emiko adopted by them and everything, so it's basically a first chapter filler. This is set about four years from where the manga is right now, which means Hiroki is 34 and Nowaki is 30. Also, if you'd like them to eventually get married or anything in this story let me know in the reviews so I can get that added in my story plans!**

 **Ja Ne!**

 **(By the way, this is unedited so I apologize for any mistakes.)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Youth**

 **Chapter Two**

When the new family entered their apartment after spending a few hours shopping for things for Emiko, the little girl rushed in the direction of her room. Since Nowaki had told her where her room would be while picking up bedroom items, it was fairly simple for her to find. Once she did find it, she stood in the middle of the bedroom, simply just taking in the fact that this one space belonged to her and her alone. There was no one she ever had to share it with, unless her new parents got another child.

"Do you like it, Emiko?" Nowaki asked when he and Nowaki entered the room, each holding large bags from multiple stores. "I know it isn't too big, but we'll probably be moving into a different home later on."

"No, this is perfect!" Emiko squealed happily, directing her attention back to her two fathers. "It has everything that I need, and I even get to set it up the way I want to." She ran up to hug Hiroki and Nowaki so suddenly that the older man nearly dropped the bags he was holding. He had never been hugged by a child before, and to know that it was his daughter that was doing so made his heart flip in his chest. She looked up at the both of them and smiled happily, her eyes crinkling at the corners, and said "I'm home".

Nowaki's eyes widened for a moment before his lips twitched up into a gentle smile, patting the top of her head. "Welcome home, Emiko," he murmured just before she pulled away from them to reach for one of the large bags. When she dumped out the contents, Nowaki and Hiroki settled down to help her arrange her room in the way she wanted and place her new clothes in certain drawers of her dresser.

Once finished, Emiko stepped back so she was standing in the doorway to look over the room. Her once bare bed had a cherry blossom comforter on it that she had picked out herself at Jusco. Atop of it was a few of her newly picked out stuffed animals, pillows, with her stuffed horse sprawled out on its stomach at the front.

Next to her bed was a regular nightstand that held five books and a reading light, which was something Hiroki insisted that she needed. On the far side of the room was a cream colored dresser with flower handles. Nowaki had placed two candle nightlights there so she wouldn't get scared in the dark. Lastly, there were pink, glittery curtains that covered the large bare window in her room. Hiroki figured it didn't look like much, but at least it was a start.

"I love it," Emiko said honestly, bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet. Her stomach growled loudly after her announcement, and she turned to Hiroki sheepishly, clearly wondering when dinner was going to be started.

Hiroki nearly glowered at the thought of having to cook after such a long day, but Nowaki placed a hand on his shoulder reassuringly and told Emiko that they were going to be having leftovers tonight, which deemed to be perfectly okay with her judging by the way she raced to the kitchen.

After dinner, as Hiroki was washing the dishes, Nowaki went off to the bathroom with Emiko to help her wash her hair and behind her ears. While he was working on rinsing out her long hair, she looked up at him curiously, her nose scrunching up as she did so.

"Daddy, how come everybody else gets adopted by a daddy and mommy and not a daddy and papa?" she asked, splashing the bubbly water with a washcloth.

Nowaki's movements faltered for a second, fretting that Emiko suddenly had a change of mind about being raised by two men. "Does it bother you that it's just me and Papa?"

"Nuh uh," she responded, almost distractedly, as she continued to swirl the soaked washcloth in the water. "I was just wondering 'cause I think I'm the first to be adopted by two boys. Kaya-san didn't seem to mind, but when I told my old friend Kimiko she said it was weird and that only a mommy and a daddy should be adopting. I don't think so, though."

"Well, you'll understand it more when you're older, but I fell in love with Papa instead of a girl. Sometimes people fall in love with each other even though they are the same gender and they sometimes want to have a family together. A lot of people don't understand it though so they think it's weird," Nowaki explained calmly before grabbing the washcloth from Emiko gently so he could clean behind her ears.

"Oh," Emiko said, blinking slowly. "Does that mean I'll fall in love with a girl then?"

"I don't know, it's possible. But even if you don't, that's okay. It doesn't matter what gender you fall in love with as long as they make you happy."

"So Papa makes you really happy?" Emiko asked, jerking her legs back as Nowaki unplugged the bathtub drain so the lukewarm water would all drain out.

"Yes, he makes me very happy," Nowaki said with a dreamy smile before reaching over to the sink so he could pull out a towel. "Now, after I dry you off I want you to go to your room to get dressed and wait for me in your bed so I can read you a story before bedtime, okay?"

Emiko stood up immediately, excited about the promise of a story. "So you'll read me a chapter out of one of my new books?" she asked as Nowaki began toweling off her hair, making sure to spend extra time on the stubborn ends that refused to stop dripping.

"Maybe not a full chapter, but part of it. You can pick out whichever book you want me to read."

"Okay!" Emiko said eagerly and clumsily wrapped the towel around her body once Nowaki was done with drying her hair and clambered off to her bedroom.

Nowaki busied himself by going into his and Hiroki's bedroom to change into his own sleepwear. As he did so Hiroki glanced up from his novel to get small glimpses of Nowaki's bare body, trying to not stare too long in order to not get himself too aroused from the sight. "She in bed?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, but I'm going to read her a story so she can relax. She's still a little too wound up from today's events so she might have trouble getting to sleep," Nowaki said as he tugged on a shirt that would probably be tossed back in his drawer before he settled down in bed. "Do you want to join?"

"No, that's okay," Hiroki said with a shrug as he diverted his attention back to his book once Nowaki's torso was covered once again. "I made a call to the school we're going to sign her up for by the way and we can sign her up tomorrow. She'll start in less than a week."

"I'll make sure to let her know then," Nowaki said with a small smile. He paused for a moment before heading out of the bedroom and walked over to Hiroki's side of the bed before leaning down and kissing his cheek gently. Hiroki sputtered, trying to fish out fake angry words, but Nowaki was out of the room and making his way down the hall before he managed to.

"Brat," Hiroki grumbled underneath his breath and snapped his book closed as he set it on the nightstand on his bedside. He rolled over, once he was lying down, so his back would be facing Nowaki when he got in bed as well. It was a seemingly cold gesture, but there was an unspoken understanding between them that when Hiroki was in this position he either wanted to be held innocently or he wanted sex. Nowaki seemed to always know which one he wanted.

After a few minutes of lying in the silent darkness, Nowaki quietly made his way back inside the bedroom. "She was already half-asleep when I got in there, but insisted that I read a little bit to her. She was more tired than I expected her to be."

"That means she's comfortable here with us then," Hiroki murmured, keeping his body still as he felt the bed dip underneath Nowaki's weight. "That's good. I was worried she was going to have a hard time adjusting."

Nowaki chuckled lowly and curled up behind Hiroki, slotting their legs together and lacing their fingers together in front of Hiroki's chest. "You sound so parental Hiro-san, it's so cute," he whispered and placed fleeting kisses to the base of Hiroki's neck. "I almost can't believe we finally have a family together. It feels to good to be true."

"Well believe it. My hurting wallet definitely does," Hiroki grumbled into his pillow, cringing at the thought of their low bank number.

"She's worth it, Hiro-san," Nowaki replied and Hiroki could feel his smile against the back of his neck where his lips refused to leave. He could feel his body buzzing from the slight attention, but he eased it to a controllable heat when he remembered Nowaki was too tired to keep his eyes open, let alone get hard and struggle to keep quiet during sex.

"I know she's worth it. I wouldn't have adopted her with you if I didn't know that, idiot." Hiroki still felt the insistent smile against his neck, and Nowaki brushed the tip of his nose against the skin there.

"I love you, Hiro-san. Thank you for having a family with me," Nowaki whispered before his smile fell and the sound of his light snoring began.

"I love you, too," Hiroki mumbled, tightening his hold on Nowaki's relaxing fingers. "And I feel privileged to have a family with you."

 **Uh, sorry for the long wait for those who have been wanting the next installment of Youth. I know this is kind of a bad chapter, but I struggled with writing it and I wanted to get it done and posted today. Not to mention I'm so tired my eyes are burning at the moment. -_-**

 **I hope you enjoyed anyway and the next few chapters will start to pick up more. The first chapter, this one, and the next couple will be slow because Emiko still needs to adjust completely to her new life. The third chapter will be coming in the next couple of weeks!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Youth**

 **Chapter Three**

The next morning, while Hiroki was attempting to make a more complex breakfast, Emiko was sitting in the living room with Nowaki and trying to make sense of the news. By trying to do so, she wound up asking question after question about politics or why one person was being so mean towards another, and why they couldn't just talk it out like adults instead of going into verbal wars through social media. She eventually got tired of listening to grown-ups talking about things she couldn't comprehend, so she wandered into the kitchen to join Hiroki in making breakfast.

"Can I help?" she asked once Hiroki became aware of her presence, and tried to move to lift herself in order to see what Hiroki was cooking. Hiroki moved faster than her, just managing to keep her hands away from the hot burner.

"Emiko! Don't touch anything in the kitchen when Daddy and I aren't in here, or without permission!" he admonished, his tone sharper than he intended. Her almond-shaped brown eyes blinked owlishly at him before hunching her shoulders and guiltily apologizing, her eyes lowering to the floor.

Hiroki sighed in exasperation and rubbed the back of his neck, mentally reminding himself that Emiko was just a five-year-old child and not one of his ignorant man-child students. "Don't get upset. I didn't mean to snap at you, you just startled me because you nearly burnt yourself. Just make sure you mind yourself in the kitchen, and always listen to what Daddy and I tell you to do. Okay?"

Emiko nodded, a hesitant smile touching her lips once she realized her Papa wasn't really upset with her, just worried about her. "I promise, Papa. Can I still help? I promise I won't touch anything!"

"I'm actually already done cooking," Hiroki admitted and reached over to the side to turn off the stove burners. Emiko's eager posture deflated instantly, so Hiroki hurriedly opened a cabinet and passed Emiko a plate. "But, you can help me set the table now, and help out with making dinner later. How does that sound?" Emiko's eagerness was back immediately and she nodded, waiting for Hiroki to hand her a couple more plates. Once he did, she scampered off towards the dining area and Hiroki bit his tongue before he could yell at her to not run with breakable dishes. 'One thing to coach at a time,' Hiroki thought to himself.

He dug out some chopsticks and spoons from the drawer for Emiko to grab once she came back, as well as a few bowls. When she did come back for the utensils and bowls, Hiroki calmly reminded her not to run, or skip, with dishes or anything sharp. To this, she simply nodded and followed his instructions as she walked back into the dining area. Hiroki sighed quietly and turned back around towards the stove to grab the pot and rice to carry over to the table. Before he had the chance to, he felt Nowaki's familiar weight press against his back and warm breath ghost against the shell of his ear, drawing out an involuntary shiver from Hiroki.

Hiroki furrowed his eyebrows and gave halfhearted wriggles to escape Nowaki's grasp. "You shouldn't do this with the kid just in the other room." Nowaki just hummed contently and tightened his hold on Hiroki, further pressing him against the still-warm stove.

"Seeing affection between parents will do no harm to a child, Hiro-san. In fact, it teaches them about healthy relationships." Hiroki just grunted under his breath, but reluctantly allowed himself to relax in Nowaki's hold, at least for a few more moments. "It's amazing to see you so parental. You had nothing at all to be worried about."

Hiroki's eyes widened from their half-lidded state and sputtered, shoving Nowaki away from him so he could grab the pot to carry over to the table. "I have no idea what you're talking about! Who was nervous? I wasn't nervous!" He turned to face Nowaki, hoping his glare was distracting him from the blush that was currently overtaking Hiroki's entire face and ears. "Make yourself useful and grab the rice. We're going straight to the school to sign her up once we're finished eating."

"Alright Hiro-san," Nowaki said easily and followed him into the dining area, setting the rice in the middle of the table. "You can go ahead and sit Emiko-chan. But get dressed as soon as you're finished eating so we can bring you to the school and get you signed up so you can start on Monday."

Emiko's shoulders seemed to tense as she lowered herself to the chair and sat down next to Nowaki as he put some food on her plate and bowl. "Do you think I'll be able to make friends?" she asked nervously.

Nowaki set the rice down and smiled at Emiko reassuringly. "Of course, you will! In fact, I'm sure you'll make tons of them."

Emiko's eyes brightened and she smiled at her father's comforting words and took a bite of the food her Papa had prepared. She hummed at the taste and gave a thumbs up to her Papa, who settled down across from her. Hiroki smiled at Emiko's wordless praise and took a bite of his own, figuring that the food was good, but could have used a bit more spice. "What makes you think you won't make many friends?" Hiroki asked after a few minutes of silent eating.

Emiko looked up at him and sighed, pushing her finished plate away from her and moved on towards the rice. "I didn't make any at my old school. Except for the kids that I grew up with, no one else ever wanted to play with me because they think I'm weird. They always say it's dumb that I have no parents and grow up with a whole bunch of other weirdos."

Nowaki sighed sadly and shook his head. So it hadn't changed much at all since he had been a child. It was always easier to make friends once he got older and people began to get their own opinions, but as a kid, he never had any friends outside of the orphanage because the other students figured that if his parents didn't even want him, why would they want to play with him. He was about to say something to lighten her worries, but Emiko began to talk before he could.

"But, now that I have a family, they can't make fun of me! And I wouldn't have wanted to be friends with those mean kids anyway."

"That is certainly a good way to look at it," Nowaki said and ruffled her messy hair affectionately. "Now, go get dressed while Papa and I wash the dishes so we can go. We're also going to buy school supplies and pick out some snacks that you like, so make sure to wear comfortable shoes."

"Okay," Emiko said and bounced off back to her room, leaving her parents alone to finish the chores.

-Page Break-

Kaisei Elementary School was the closest private school in the area in which Nowaki and Hiroki lived, and while there was an even closer public school right across from their apartments, Hiroki refused to allow his child to attend a public school. When Nowaki had asked why, Hiroki had said that it was because the students in public school are typically more behaved than in public, and he didn't want to risk Emiko getting bullied because of her interesting family situation. Walking into the school, Nowaki automatically felt as if he didn't belong in such a seemingly prestigious place, considering he had attended public school himself, and he worried if Emiko would be able to connect with any of the students here.

He glanced over at Hiroki as they walked down the hall towards the main office, and noticed he looked, not comfortable, but almost accustomed to the surroundings. Nowaki knew that his parents were fairly rich, they did live near the Usami mansion after all, but it was strange to see Hiroki in the same kind of element that he grew up with. When they entered the main office, a stiff-looking receptionist greeted them politely but didn't look up from her keyboard until a couple minutes later. When she did, she looked between Hiroki and Nowaki and then down to Emiko, her facial expression giving away nothing.

"Are you here to sign her up?"

"Yes," Hiroki answered and stepped forward and Nowaki felt relieved that his boyfriend was going to handle the business of signing her up. "I have all of the necessary paperwork here so you can make copies, but I would like the original forms back, please."

"Of course, sir," the receptionist said and took the manila folder away from Hiroki and flipped through it briefly. "Will this be the first school she is attending or does she have records from a previous one?"

"The orphanage said that this is the first year she's able to go to any school," Hiroki replied. The receptionist nodded but did not reply, as she took out a few papers from the stack in the folder and turned around to the printer in order to make copies. She then went to a cabinet just above the printer and took out a clipboard with a thick packet clipped onto it, and a pen.

"You and her other guardian need to fill this out in the specified places. After doing so, bring it back up to me and I will give you the basic rules the school has, as well as the bell schedule and supplies she'll need, calendar, and uniform list. The full uniform will be needed by Wednesday at the latest, and if she doesn't have the full attire by then, consequences will be issued. Do you have any questions so far?"

"No ma'am," said Hiroki politely as he snatched up a second pen in the cup on the woman's desk before making his way to the chairs where Nowaki and Emiko were sitting. He handed Nowaki the second pen and sat beside him, immediately starting on the paperwork and asked Nowaki to sign in certain spots as he went through it.

"Sorry this is taking so long, Emiko-chan," Nowaki whispered to the little girl, smiling sheepishly. "If I had realized how tedious this would be I would have told you to bring one of your books."

"It's okay, Daddy," Emiko said brightly, watching her swinging legs that still didn't touch the floor beneath her. "I don't mind."

"Oi, Nowaki," Hiroki called and Nowaki turned back to face him. "S-should I sign under the 'mother' column or 'other relative'?"

Nowaki snorted at the thought of Hiroki being categorized as a mother, which just earned him a nasty glare in return. "I can sign under 'mother' if you want me to, Hiro-san. It really doesn't matter to me."

"N-no it's fine," Hiroki muttered with a blush as he jerkily gave his signature on the line next to 'mother'. "The mother contact is normally the first to be called anyway, and I don't want you interrupted at the hospital if Emiko ever comes down here, or to the nurse, and needs to contact one of us."

"Aw, you're always so thoughtful, Hiro-san," Nowaki murmured and leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek, but Hiroki shoved the clipboard into his chest and pushed him back before he was able to.

"Don't even think about it," Hiroki said darkly and Emiko giggled beside Nowaki from their antics. "Just because we have a child together now doesn't mean I'm going to just let you paw all over me in public, you pervert!"

Nowaki hummed as he signed his name directly under Hiroki's, and his heart gave a flip when the reality of all of this set in. He and Hiroki had a child to raise together. It had always been one of his dreams, but he never expected it to actually happen, so this all seemed so surreal. He kept his eyes on the paper in front of him as he checked certain things off, but he smirked as he said, "does that mean Hiro-san will let me touch him in private?" so quietly to make sure Emiko couldn't hear.

Hiroki flushed all the way to the tips of his ears and his fingers twitched, clearly wishing he had a book to hit Nowaki with, or that he could just hit him now without the risk of getting in trouble by the receptionist. "Don't be stupid!" he hissed angrily.

Nowaki flipped the packet shut once he finished the last of it and handed it to Hiroki with a coy smile. "So, does that mean I can? You didn't deny me."

"M-maybe," Hiroki muttered and stood so quickly that he got a head-rush as he stalked back over to the receptionist desk.

Emiko laughed beside Nowaki and he turned, hoping that she hadn't heard what he said, or understood what they were talking about. "Papa's funny," she said and pointed to the still-present redness to his ears. Nowaki didn't respond, but he smiled and looked at Hiroki affectionately as Emiko's foot bumped against his once, and wondered how he ever got so lucky.

 **Okay, so I was aiming for this chapter to be around 4,000 words, but it just didn't happen. The story is still slow moving because Hiroki and Nowaki are just trying to get Emiko to settle in, so the chapters can't really get all that long. But, the chapters should be getting longer either around chapter four or five since Emiko starts school in the next, and the story will get more interesting as she ages. I'm wanting to write this until she gets into her college years, so I'm expecting for this story to be around 30-35 chapters… maybe more?**

 **Also, if any of y'all want to leave requests for this story, you can! I'm open for ideas, and I'll probably be able to squeeze in anything as long as it doesn't affect the major plot points that I'm already planning. Thanks for reading!**

 **(Unedited. If anyone wants to beta for me that'd be great!)**


	4. Chapter 4

When next Monday eventually rolled around, Emiko had risen particularly early. She spent her extra time trying to put on her outfit correctly and neatly, not even letting her fathers' amusing bickering from down the hall distract her. By the time she finished pulling on her long socks, put on her shoes, and brushed her long hair out neatly, Nowaki opened the door, clearly not expecting her to have woken up an hour earlier than necessary. "Oh, Emiko-chan, you're already dressed," he said with his familiar smile that Emiko couldn't help but return. "Good thing then, Hiro-san and I are done with breakfast early so you can eat it while it's still hot."

To be honest, the thought of eating anything at the moment made Emiko's stomach churn even more, but she still followed her daddy out into the dining room. She, however, didn't manage to make it to the table before Hiroki made a funny sort of squawking noise and rushed over to her, frowning even more than normal. "Emiko! Your outfit is completely wrinkled and your shoes are on the wrong feet! Why didn't you get help?" She opened her mouth to apologize or answer, but Hiroki grabbed her hand and led her over to the couch before she could. "Never mind that," he said with a sigh. "Let's just get this ironed and fix your shoes."

"Hiro-san," Nowaki called when Emiko plopped down onto the couch after Hiroki took her shirt and moved to iron it. "It's not a job interview. I doubt the other kids are going to even notice an outfit; even if they did they wouldn't care."

"It's not the other kids," Hiroki snapped as he flicked on the ironer and let it warm. "It's the teachers. The secretary already thought it was weird that two men signed up a child to their school, and I'm sure we're the gossip in the teacher's lounge. They would probably go on and on about how barbarians dressed her and say that we're too busy having-" he cut off suddenly and sent a nervous glance towards Emiko. "Um, involved with each other to even notice what she's doing."

"Barbarians?" Nowaki asked with furrowed eyebrows. "Hiro-san, while I won't completely disregard the gossip part, I really doubt that the teachers will say we're barbarians for a few wrinkles in a shirt or that we're unfit to raise her."

"You wouldn't know!" Hiroki barked and began to iron the shirt. "You didn't go to one of these schools. All the parents think they're above the others and the teachers nitpick every flaw that their students have! My mother was called down plenty of times because of my sharp tongue and Akihiko's father was often called because of his spaciness. I don't care how good your grades are or how many friends you have or if your parents have connections with the teachers, your child is still watched over like a hawk is to a field mouse."

Emiko's eyes went wide and she felt the knot in her throat tighten even further. She wasn't so sure if she could eat breakfast at all now. "Hiro-san!" Nowaki admonished from the other side of the room. "Don't say things like that in front of her, you'll make her think this school is worse than it actually is. Besides, school has to be slightly different than it was when you and I were there. Not to mention, she's only in grade school."

Hiroki sighed and gave Emiko an apologetic look as he finished up her shirt and turned the iron off. "It's really not like that, Emiko," he said calmly, though his cheeks were bright from having to admit he went too far with his ranting. Emiko guessed he was just worried about her first day in a school with children who had a much different life than her. "I went to a much stricter school and my parents were constantly breathing down my neck; that's why I was so stressed. You'll do just fine."

"Are the kids all that different from me? The older kids at the orphanage always said that they didn't make friends outside of the others in the orphanage because the other kids think we're freaks." Emiko sniffed and wiped at her eyes angrily, upset at herself from getting worked up over something so dumb. "They always said that if our parents didn't want us they didn't want to be our friends either."

Hiroki's head shot up and gave Nowaki an alarmed look as he jerkily placed a hand on the top of Emiko's head, not quite sure how to reassure her. Luckily, Nowaki walked over and got on his knees in front of the sniveling child. He took her tiny hands in his much bigger ones and waited until she looked at him to begin talking. "That won't happen to you, Emiko-chan. You have a family, there is no reason for those other children to not like you. If some of them don't want to talk to you about something as little as you being adopted then they aren't good people to be friends with anyways. You're such an amazing girl and those kids will be lucky to be your friend. Remember, those who don't want to be your friend are missing out."

She snuffled again and pulled an arm out of Nowaki's light grasp to wipe at the tears on her cheeks, but a tiny smile was beginning to pull at her lips. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," Nowaki said, giving her a smile of his own. "You'll make more friends than you can hardly keep up with."

Emiko's smile widened and she nodded. "I trust you, Daddy," she said, reaching out so she could wrap her arms around his neck. Nowaki froze for half a second before he returned her kind hug and glanced up at Hiroki who was looking down at him as if he just realized why exactly he agreed to adopt with Nowaki in the first place.

 **-Page Break-**

After Nowaki dropped Emiko off at school, alone because Hiroki had to be at the university at the same time she had to arrive her own school, Emiko was lined up with another group of students her age. Some were chatting animatedly with one another, having clearly known each other for awhile, some were beginning to talk with another child who had the same toy as them, and the others, like Emiko, were standing alone with their knuckles tight around their backpack straps and staring apprehensively at such a big place. Emiko continued to stay in the background, observing the other students silently, until the school bell rang signaling for them to start making their way to their classroom.

She followed her line into the classroom and hung her backpack on the back of the desk that she chose to sit at. The desks were all arranged into groups of four and there was a large chalkboard at the front of the class. Crayons and other fun looking art related tools were located all around the classroom as well as other boring-looking workbooks. The teacher's desk was at the very front of the room, on the side of the chalkboard, and a teacher was already sitting there and smiling at all her new students as they went to find their seats. Emiko examined her teacher closely and ended up thinking that she didn't look too mean or strict. Her light brown hair was tied up in a loose bun and she seemed to be wearing the same kind of clothes as the other teachers outside, but her face was kind and not at all scary looking.

Two other students sat at the table Emiko was at and smiled warmly at her as they did so. They were two girls, one who had her black hair tied up in pigtails and a large mark on the right side of her face, and the other girl was a bit more chubby with blond hair. They both looked friendly, so Emiko smiled back hesitantly, preparing herself for one of them to start talking, but her teacher stood and announced herself before they could.

"Good morning, everyone! I hope that all of you had a nice weekend and stayed safe. I'm glad to announce that we have a new student here with us today. Why don't you come up here and announce yourself to everyone?"

Emiko glanced around the class nervously before she took a big breath and stood, knowing that it was best to just introduce herself without throwing a fit about it. She walked up to stand beside her teacher and bowed shallowly to her classmates. "My name is Kusama Emiko. Nice to meet you all."

"Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself, Emiko? Do you have any pets? What's your favorite thing to do?"

Emiko blinked and turned back to the class, looking up at them confidently even though her palms were sweating. "Um, I was just adopted a little while ago by my Daddy and Papa and now I live in a really big, pretty house. I've even got my own room. We don't have any pets, but my favorite thing to do is read and draw."

"That was great, Emiko. You can go sit down now." Emiko sighed in relief and stepped away from her teacher and towards her table. From somewhere to the right of her, she heard a young boy raise his voice.

"A Daddy and a Papa? That's really weird. It's supposed to be a Daddy and a Mommy. Don't you know that?"

Emiko's back stiffened and she could already feel tears stinging her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away and sat at her desk, her fists curled tightly on its surface.

"Mashita!" The teacher said sternly, her eyebrows furrowed and hands poised on her hips. Emiko suddenly realized that she could look mean if she wanted to. "What have I told you about how you say things?"

Mashita grumbled under his breath for a second before replying "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all".

"Exactly! I don't want to hear anything else come out of your mouth, or anyone else's, about Emiko's family. If I do hear anything, you will get your whole recess period taken away and you can eat your lunch on the curb. Am I understood?"

A series of grumpy "yes Kurata-sensei's" were echoed around the classroom, but Emiko sunk into her seat with her cheeks burning. She was already getting picked on because of her family, for reasons she didn't understand, and she was beginning to doubt that her Daddy knew what he was talking about when he said that she would have plenty of friends. All of these kids seemed so mean over something as simple as the people who chose her to love and protect. Why was that such a big deal?

"Don't listen to Mashita," one of the girls said the chubbier one. "He has to pick on everybody in the class, I don't understand how he even has any friends."

Emiko looked up at her and frowned. "He picks on you too?"

The girl nodded, "yeah, all the time because I'm bigger than other girls in class. He says it makes me ugly."

"You're not ugly!" Emiko said furiously, sitting up in her chair completely again. "He's dumb if he says that. Size shouldn't make a difference."

The girl shrugged, but the smile she gave Emiko held pure glee as if those were words she had been waiting to hear for her whole life. "My name is Muso Hanako by the way." She pointed to the girl who was sitting beside her. "This is my best friend Shiba Michiko."

"Nice to meet you both," Emiko said with a smile, figuring that it was unnecessary for her to introduce herself again to them. "I hope we can be friends."

The two girls smiled back but remained silent due to Kurata-sensei began to speak once again. "Today I decided we can take a bit of a relaxing day. You all have been working so hard I decided that we could take a bit of a break and do something fun. How does that sound?"

The class gave out a chorus of cheers and Kurata-sensei laughed as she picked up a stack of blank pieces of paper from her desk. "Good. So, I thought, since we do have a new student, we could all make some Profile Posters so I can all learn a bit more about you. I will make my own as well so you can learn about me as well. Sound good?"

Another chorusing sound of agreement sounded around the classroom and Kurata-sensei began to pass out the papers as well as markers, crayons and map pencils. "I want you all to use your imaginations! I know most of you can't write very well yet, so I want you all to draw pictures of what you are trying to describe to me. If you aren't the best artist, that's perfectly okay, because I still draw with stick figures I'm so bad." The class laughed. "Now, I want you all to draw a picture of your family, your bedroom, any pets you may have, you doing your favorite activity, and a favorite memory that you have."

As soon as everything was passed out and the instructions were finished, Emiko began to draw. After working diligently on her project until lunchtime, most of the class still wasn't even halfway done with it. The whole class was lead out onto the playground and Emiko stuck close to her new friends. She learned that they always ate their lunch under a tree at the farthest corner of the playground. As she, Hanako and Michiko were eating, Emiko suddenly felt incredibly curious about the red mark that took over the right side of Michiko's face. "What's that mark on you, Michiko? Did you get hurt?"

Michiko's shoulders slumped slightly and raised her hand to graze her fingers over the mark self-consciously. "No, it's just a birthmark. I've had it my entire life. Why?"

"Oh," Emiko said quickly, realizing that she had somehow offended her new friend. "I just was wondering! I like it, actually. I haven't met anyone with a birthmark before, so I think it looks cool."

"Hey!" A new voice called out before Michiko had a chance to reply, and the three girls turned to see Mashita and three other boys standing near them. "New girl, I was just wondering if you were really adopted by two boys."

Hanako sighed and scowled at Mashita irritatedly. "Go away, Mashita."

"I wasn't talking to you," Mashita said with his nose crinkling. "I just want to know if she was really adopted by two boys, I'm not doing anything bad."

"Yes," Emiko said snappishly, taking another bite of the leftover dinner that her Papa packed for her for lunch. "I was. I don't understand why you're so interested."

"Well, I hear my Daddy talking about how two boys who are together are called "fags" and shouldn't be allowed together since it's unnatural. My Mama agrees with him, and I don't think they'll be too happy knowing that you're attending here. My Mama is the secretary, you see, and my Daddy's the vice principle. I can't believe they even let you in."

"I don't care what they think," Emiko said, her lips thinning as her agitation grew until it was simmering in her belly making her feel hot. "My parents love and care for me, and it is no one else's business, so stay out of it. It's my family, not yours."

Mashita sneered and growled something under his breath with a roll of his eyes. He began to stalk away with his friends trailing on after him. Emiko watched him go until she felt a small hand clap over her shoulder and turned to see Michiko giving her a concerned look.

"Don't worry about him. He thinks he's all cool because his parents work here and let him get away with everything. He's really just a big stupid-head."

Emiko giggled and took another bite of her food. "My Daddy says that mean people like him always get something called 'kama' or 'karma' or something like that. It means that they end up getting their feelings hurt too. I'm sure that'll happen to him so I'm not gonna worry about it."

Emiko turned back to look at where Mashita had gone to sit by his friends and wondered why he was so mean.

 **-Page Break-**

When the final school bell rang, Emiko ran out to the front of the school after saying goodbye to her friends and was pleased to see that both of her dads' were standing and waiting for her. Her Papa seemed to look a bit uncomfortable, but her Daddy smiled widely as soon as he saw her bound down the stairs towards them. "Emiko-chan!" he said warmly and bent down so she could run into his arms. "How was your first day of school?"

"It was really fun!" Emiko said happily, nearly bouncing on the balls of her feet as she described her two new friends and her really nice teacher. "We also made a project in class today," she said and pushed her few pieces of paper into her Daddy's hands. "We were supposed to draw certain things about us. Even Kurata-sensei did it and she showed it to us before we left today. She can't draw very well, but I still really like her."

Nowaki laughed and looked over her work, Hiroki peering over his shoulder as well. "I'm glad you had such a good day. We'll have to hang this on the refrigerator so we can look at this every day; you're an amazing artist, Emiko-chan."

Emiko smiled and glanced up at her Papa while her Daddy was still looking over her artwork closely, smiling all the while. She raised her arms up towards him and jutted out her bottom lip as she looked at him pleadingly. "Can you carry me, Papa? My feet hurt."

Hiroki blinked at her with surprise before bending over to lift her off the sidewalk after giving her backpack to Nowaki. As they began to walk in the direction of home, Nowaki leaned close to Emiko and whispered "always use puppy eyes with Papa. It always works on him". Emiko laughed even as Hiroki slapped Nowaki in the shoulder with the book he was holding with his free hand.

"Don't tell her something like that, idiot! She'll end up getting far too spoiled! Not to mention she'll pick up your stupid bad habits."

"Sorry Hiro-san," Nowaki said, but Emiko could tell very easily that her Daddy wasn't sorry at all. She glanced down towards the artwork that Nowaki was still holding as her parents bantered back and forth. She stared at the picture that she drew for family; her standing between the two men who decided to care for and love her when no one else would. She decided then that family wasn't just about who you really came from, but those who love you unconditionally. She leaned into her Papa further and closed her eyes, a small smile on her face. She was lucky enough to find just that.

 **Sorry if the drama at school is a bit too much, but I'm not used to writing in a five-year-old's point of view, obviously. Once she becomes a teenager, and even a ten-year-old, I'll be able to write this story much more easily. It won't seem as choppy or unnatural, especially since I have many plans for her when she gets to be around fourteen/fifteen/sixteen. I hope you all like it anyway!**

 **Also, I got a review a while ago saying that I stole Yuna Kitty's story called Happily Ever After that is about Hiroki and Nowaki adopting a little boy. I have done no such thing. I read her story a while ago and decided that there were not nearly enough stories where Hiroki and Nowaki have a child and I wanted to change that. These are my own original ideas and I would never steal another person's hard work. Thank you. (I'm not trash, I promise).**


End file.
